The technical field relates to systems and methods used to monitor the status and control the operation of a motor vehicle.
Most engine-powered vehicles use monitoring devices to detect the presence of various undesirable operating conditions, such as engine over heating, low oil pressure, and low fuel, and include indicators to warn the operator of such conditions. Not all of the various monitored parameters have the same importance. For example, an engine air filter or a hydraulic fluid filter may gradually clog during operation of the vehicle. The vehicle operator should be warned of such clogging, but generally there is no need to immediately remedy the situation, and the vehicle can be operated until for some time before servicing and maintenance. A low fuel condition requires more immediate attention from the operator. A loss of engine oil pressure or a loss of hydraulic fluid represent conditions which require immediate operator attention to prevent damaging the vehicle.
Current monitoring systems detect the undesirable conditions and signal the vehicle operator by means of dial indicators, indicator lamps, or audible means. The efficiency of these systems depends upon the operator""s careful attention to all of the various indicators and upon his judgement as to which may call for immediate correction. As the complexity of a vehicle increases, the number of monitored parameters generally increases. Therefore, the operator is required to direct more attention to the increasing number of indicators, and less attention to operating the vehicle.
When considering single vehicles, current on-board monitoring systems, and current diagnostic systems, focus on the parameters and test measurements of a single vehicle. No system exists to allow monitoring of a fleet of vehicles from a single remote location. Further, current systems do not allow trend analysis of a fleet of vehicles by aggregating trouble reports or similar data, and do not provide real-time or near-real-time assistance to local operators and repair technicians.
Current on-board monitoring systems also do not allow for real-time monitoring of on-board parameters at one or more remote locations and do not allow for remote vehicle control. For example, current monitoring systems do not provide a remote location with the ability to shut off an operating vehicle""s engine.
Another drawback of current on-board monitoring systems is the need to perform partial or complete disassembly of components or systems to determine the nature and extent of an abnormal condition. This disassembly may be costly in terms of time and replacement parts, and may cause further damage to the vehicle.
A vehicle electrical and diagnostic system includes a communications bus installed in the vehicle. Input/output (I/O) blocks are coupled to the communications bus. Also coupled to the bus is an industrial computer. The computer drives the vehicle""s operating program. The computer also acts as an interface between the vehicle""s systems and a human technician. The I/O blocks receive data from sensors installed in various locations within the vehicle and provide the data to the computer using the communications bus.
The computer may be used locally or remotely to diagnose the vehicle""s components. The operating program on the vehicle may also be used to remotely control the vehicle. In an embodiment, one or more buses are coupled, using a wireless communications network to a hub or local bus operating center. Such a center may be part of a metropolitan transit authority, for example. As many as 256 or more such buses may be associated with each hub, and the transit authority may use many hubs for its fleet of transit buses. The buses use the wireless communications network to pass operating and diagnostic data in a real-time, near real-time and delayed manner. The transmitted data may be collected and stored at an Internet web site that may be associated with the hub. The data may then be accessed by a central support system that also accesses the Internet web site. The accessed data may be used to help make management, design and engineering decisions regarding the buses. For example, the central support system can collect engine trend analysis data that may indicate premature wear of engine piston rings. Using this data, the central support system can allocate more spare piston rings to its supply center, and may review engine design to improve wear characteristics.
The hub or the central support center may also use received operating data to monitor operation of one or more buses. The hub or the central support system may issue control signals to control operation of one or more bus components or systems. For example, the central support system may send control signals to open a switch in a bus engine control circuit to cause the bus engine to shutdown. Technicians at the central support system may access programming identical to that onboard the bus, and may, using a HMI (human to machine interface), select a xe2x80x9cswitchxe2x80x9d to open. This operation then sends the control signal through the Internet web site and to the bus onboard computer to cause the bus programming to initiate the switch open command.
The hub or central support center and the bus 100 may use a geo-satellite positioning system (GPS) to maintain an accurate track of location of the bus. Using bus location information, the hub may optimize bus routing, steering the bus around obstacles, and may allocate other bus resources based on real-time routing and bus location information provided by the GPS.